Nokia Asha 500 is a combination of two handsets, the Nokia Asha 502 and Nokia Asha 501. Asha 500 has got the Nokia 502 looks and comes loaded with almost same features as seen on the Asha 501. The screen size and the camera megapixel have been trimmed down to make it cheaper than the Asha 501.
Box Pack
Inside the box you will find the handset, bright red colored earphone, travel charger, 1200 mAh battery and warranty / quick start booklet.
Design
The Nokia Asha 500 looks exactly similar to the Nokia Asha 502. It has got that transparent shell that gives a premium feel. The build quality is good and handset seems tough, however it is not scratch resistant.
There are very few differences between the 500 and the 501 model. The Asha 500 comes with 2.79 inch touch screen and 2MP rear fixed focus camera as compared with the Asha 501 that comes with 3 inch touch screen and 3.2MP rear fixed focus camera.
There is a single navigation touch button on the front facing bottom, micro USB port on the top along with 3.5mm audio jack and volume rockers plus power button on the right side. The Asha 500 is available in 6 different colors.
Nokia Asha 500 review
This will be a quick one. It is a dual SIM handset; performance is good, decent enough for basic usage. All of the 50x handsets now support Whatsapp, in fact the Asha 500 comes pre-installed with Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter social networking apps.
You need two micro SIM cards. There is micro SD card slot that can house 32GB card. This handset runs on Asha Platform 1.1.1 with OTA update support. Sound is loud and clear.
The rear camera (2MP fixed focus) still images are good enough for the price. Videos can be recorded in 320×240 pixels resolution which isn’t that good. Asha 500 does not support 3G but you can use the 2G (EDGE/GPRS) networks. There is built in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0. There no built in GPS receiver but you can get the approximate location using the Cellular / Wi-Fi network position.
As mentioned it is a basic handset not really meant for gaming and heavy usage. The 1200 mAh battery gives talk time of up to 14 hours and music playback time of up to 45 hours (there is built in FM radio).
Verdict
Overall the Nokia Asha 500 is a cheaper version of the Nokia Asha 501 and available for a price tag of Rs. 4,500. Definitely makes sense going in for the 500 cause of better looks – the trimmed down features i.e. a smaller screen size and the 2MP camera would hardly matter.
Image Gallery
Sample Images shot using Nokia Asha 500
Nokia Asha 500 unboxing and review video
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